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Layla waited patiently outside of the cabin with anticipation. Amber and Blake could barely keep their nerves together as it was. Amber tugged on Blake's shirt, gaining her attention as she glanced worriedly over towards Layla.
"What do we do? We let her do this but I'm starting to think it may be a bad idea," she whispered, gripping Blake's shirt tightly. Blake didn't respond, turning her attention to Layla. She knew that Layla would not back down from her decision. Then again, she wasn't in much of a position to talk to Amber about it anyway since she felt the same. They watched as Sebastian emerged from the cabin, beckoning for Layla to enter.
"I will guide you to the testing grounds as my master has requested," Sebastian announced, "If you would kindly follow me."

They made their way towards the open meadow once more. Amber looked to Blake with concern as they approached. Sure enough, Blake had curled her hands into fists, trembling. Amber wanted to say something about it, but hesitated due to her understanding as to why Blake acted as she was now. The memory of overwhelming blood lust was something that a person could not just forget on a whim. Even worse if that blood lust was directed at your friends, to which you couldn't control. Blake grit her teeth as she continued to follow Sebastian and Layla, who walked in front of her and Amber. The meadow of her nightmares being the testing site for whatever theory Drew wanted to test; it felt like a sick joke. Sebastian stopped them in the middle of the field. The breeze blew past them gently, as if there was nothing but peace in the world. In the distance, birds were chirping and tiny signs of wildlife scampered across the grass into the forest line around them. Sebastian turned to Layla.
"This is the place. My master will be speaking with you through speakers hidden throughout the outskirts of the forest that you see here," Sebastian explained, stepping back towards Blake and Amber. Layla nodded and took a few steps forward. SHe took some time to examine her surroundings. Nothing had changed since that day. Well, she sighed inwardly, the term yesterday doesn't seem appropriate to call that, now is it? A loud screech echoed throughout the open meadow, and a grainy silence rang out.
"Layla, I'll have to assume that you can hear me?" Drew spoke through the speakers. Layla gave a nod, looking around the meadow, fists raised. She was ready to expect anything.
"Now, the first thing I would like to test would be aura manipulation," Drew began, "Sebastian, if you will?" The Ire bowed lowly and approached to face Layla. His crooked smile turned from irritating to blood-thirsty as he attacked Layla. The girl launched herself to the right, barely dodging the attack on time. Blake and Amber both had to steel themselves so that they wouldn't unnecessarily interfere.
"Good reflexes," Drew commented aloud, "Sebastian, halt!" With the command, Sebastian halted his advances, once again returning to the civil Ire Drew made it to be. Blake felt a nervous sweat. Sebastian was eerily obedient to Drew. Just how strong could Drew be to make an Ire this submissive?
"Now, Lady Amber is a Guardian, I presume?" Drew asked the speaker, "If that is the case, I would like to ask for her assistance here." Amber, taken off-guard by the sudden request, quietly made her way over to Layla. "All I ask is that you explain to Miss Layla how aura manipulation works. Just so that she can have an idea," Drew explained. Amber nodded, finding this request easy to do.
"As you know, aura is the essence of the soul," Drew spoke through as Amber talked to Layla. Blake perked her ears to listen to what Drew had to say, curious as to exactly how much he knew about Guardians, Knights, and the aura used to fight against Ires. "The way aura is used has been discussed for centuries over multiple cultures. Asian culture dictates the human aura as inner strength and energy, which isn't too far from the truth," Drew went on, "To be able to use their aura to boost a bit of strength to help them or to channel their inner selves into focus, Asian cultures sort for ways to possibly allow any individual human to see and manipulate that aura out in the open. This is where I'm basing my theory. Does that make sense to you so far, Sir Blake?" Blake blinked at the title.
"Sorry, 'Sir' Blake? You do realize that I am a female, right?" Blake called out.
"Ah, I was referring that as to your title as Knight. Please forgive me for any confusion," Drew apologized quickly, clearing his throat. Blake nodded in understanding. Knights were mainly male in the past, so it should have made sense for her to be called one despite being female. Still, it's just awkward to be called that I guess, Blake mused to herself.

"Now try to relax and think of what I taught you. A tiny candle lit in the dark recess of your mind," Amber continued to teach Layla. The girl nodded and closed her eyes, picturing herself in a dark room. Just as Amber had explained, she imagined a flickering light in the room and began to notice a faint trace of a sky blue light. The next step was to imagine the warmth of the light flow throughout my body, Layla recalled. The light began to glow brighter, and suddenly Layla could sense a warmth emitting from it. The warmth spread throughout her body, reaching from her head to the tips of her fingers. Focus, Layla consoled herself. Meanwhile, Sebastian approached Layla from behind, and placed a hand on her shoulder. Layla noticed the sudden touch as well as the power that flowed through from it. The touch was cold, not warm like a human hand, so she immediately figured that it was Sebastian. Amber clenched her fists as she watched Sebastian. For some reason, just having it doing something as menial as touching Layla's shoulder ticked her off really bad.
Layla continued to focus on her little light's warmth spreading throughout her body, focusing the warmth onto her shoulder where Sebastian had placed its hand. The warmth of her candle battled with the cold of its hand, struggling to overtake it. Beads of sweat began to form around Layla as she scrunched her face in focus. Blake took note of this and began to approach Sebastian. Had it not been for Drew's voice echoing not to interfere, Blake would have most likely attempted to kill Sebastian on the spot.
"I can assure you that Sebastian isn't doing her any harm," Drew explained himself, "A means to help her control and learn how to direct her aura. Just look for yourself." Blake scoffed and continued to observe Layla's progress. To her and Amber's surprise, a sky blue light began to encircle Layla's shoulder where Sebastian's hand was.
"Oh... my god...," was all Amber could mutter as she watched her friend's light blue aura flicker to life. Sebastian removed its hand and circled to the front of Layla, grasping both her hands. Once again, Layla focused the warmth to the cold, battling it to warm her hands. Just as before with her shoulder, Blake and Amber watched in awe as Layla's aura appeared to surround her hands. Sebastian continued these little exercises, placing its hand on multiple parts of her body as a means to help Layla train on controlling her aura. Finally, after an hour, Sebastian finally stopped altogether, stepping away from Layla.
"We can now stop. Open your eyes, Miss Layla," Drew announced from the speaker. Layla opened her eyes as told and looked over to Blake and Amber, who looked to be in shock.
"U-Um, guys?" Layla asked meekly, embarrassed to see both her friends staring at her like this. Neither of her friends moved a muscle. Sebastian, on the other hand, grinned.
"Miss Layla, please don't worry. They had just laid witness to my theory being true," Drew's voice echoed throughout the meadow, "I must say, your aura is a very beautiful sky blue." Layla's eyes widened. She looked down at her hands and focused the warmth of her candle once more. Just as Drew said, a sky blue aura emerged from her hands. That's my aura, she thought, I can see it... I can see my own aura!
"Woohoo!" Layla cheered loudly, jumping up and down. The warmth of her aura filled her to the brim, and she could feel nothing but excitement. Blake and Amber recovered from their initial shock, both relieved that the test wasn't as they had thought. Rather, to see how successful it was made them glad for Layla's sake.
"Well, I guess now Layla's the first regular human capable of fighting against Ires with her own aura," Amber jokingly stated, jeering at Blake. The Knight shrugged it off with a laugh.

Drew had appeared in the field after a few more minutes of Layla cheering her success. He congratulated her on her success and thanked Sebastian for its assistance, to which it bowed in response.
"Now then, with that said," Drew clapped his hands together, "I have only one last test for you, Miss Layla. It will be just as painless as the first one. All I ask is for your natural feedback." He asked for Sebastian to teleport him somewhere, leaving Layla to celebrate her victory with Blake and Amber.
"I can use my aura! I can now fight!" Layla cheered happily. Blake gave a small laugh as she placed a hand on Layla, steadying her.
"Easy there, Miss Invincible," Blake called calmly, "I'm not sending you into a horde of Ires that fast."
"Blake's right. For all we know, you can only summon your aura," Amber chimed in, "It can act as a defensive armor for you, like how Blake uses hers, but that's all we know for it to be capable of doing at the moment. Baby steps, Layla. Baby steps."
"Fine, fine, I get it," Layla pouted cutely, causing both her friends to burst out laughing. She knew that they were right. It still didn't stop her from wanting to rush into helping them in the front lines. Blake took note of her suddenly sullen mood and kept her smile, nudging Layla to get her attention.
"Layla, you've already been a big help to us without your aura. Don't think that you haven't done enough," Blake spoke softly. Layla nodded in understanding, taking in Blake's words. Amber nodded in approval, looking to Layla with nothing but admiration in her eyes. After all, her best friend Layla was probably one of the bravest normal humans she would ever think of. Usually, in a situation like this, it would have been normal to run away and hide. But Layla chose to stay and fight in anyway that she could. Amber smiled; that was her friend, alright. Drew emerged again with Sebastian by his side, a large steel box standing behind him.
"Miss Layla, I would like to show you something in which I had been working on. It is a way for a stagnant aura of a human being to be used in combat," Drew started, snapping his fingers. Sebastian immediately began unlocking the case, revealing the contents inside. Layla stood in awe at the weaponry laid out before her. Diverse weapons from swords to guns as well as armor ranging from lightweight vests and medieval-like armor shined brightly under the sunlight.
"These weapons can be used ordinarily. However, I went ahead and attempted to manufacture a way for aura users to allow their aura to be used with these as their medium," Drew explained, smiling proudly at his work, "Although I have had no test subjects to try this on with, I would like to ask for you to use this. Is that alright?" Layla approached the repertoire of weaponry and armor, glancing over each and every piece. Just as Drew had said, each one looked as though it would function normally even without the influence of an aura. However, Layla couldn't help but to notice small indentations laced throughout everything. She went to pick up the lightweight bullet-proof vest, military pants and shoes and donned each one. Afterwards, she turned to the weapons and chose a sniper rifle, handgun and small hunter's knife with matching sheaths for each one. She turned to Drew, smiling in satisfaction.
"In that case, you wouldn't mind if I keep these as my own, right?" she asked sweetly.
"But of course," Drew replied smiling back, "I myself cannot use them, so you may have them as you please." Amber happily cheered and congratulated Layla on this new development, but Blake couldn't help but feel something wrong with the entire picture. She looked to Drew, suspicion looming over her. If he can see and tame Sebastian, then why was it that he could not use his own weapons and armor that he crafted himself, Blake thought to herself, suddenly becoming wary. Something now seemed very off. Alarms rang throughout her mind and body about everything. Drew may not be as he seems, Blake grit her teeth, but-
"Blake? Something wrong?" Amber snapped Blake out of her thoughts. Blake calmed her nerves and flashed a smile to Amber.

"No, nothing. Just thinking to myself," Blake lied upfront, hiding away her anguish and tension.